DO NOT write more articles about the redesign of Facebook, you’re playing right into the trap. The trick Facebook is using on us is an example of the art of reverse psychology. They tie us and our friends with a great service; annoy us with a forced redesign, which in turn forces us to rebel through the social media. We think we got back at Facebook, but in reality we were recruited to do free word of mouth advertising! Read on for my train of thoughts…

I’m no writer like Beirut and Fadi, but I do like to day dream and come up with weird theories, so to speak :).

We talked about Facebook’s redesign and our realization that Zuckerberg has a “God Complex”. Well, maybe not! Maybe he’s just a smart ass marketer with a psychology background, using his knowledge of human emotion to capture our time and attention. Maybe even manipulate us for no other reason but money!

My theory is based on the following factors:

At this point, we, the users, are trapped and pressured to stick to Facebook. We cannot just simply click the ‘deactivate account’ button, because: Nearly all of us have tens or hundreds of “friends” on our Facebook accounts, and Facebook offers a great personal and social value for all of us.

If a business owner, my drycleaner for instance, provokes me, I’d usually just seize dealing with him and his business. But in Facebook’s case, I do not (or can not) just stop using it simply for the reasons mentioned earlier. The normal outlet for my frustration would be to complain to others!

Finally, as we all know, advertising is expensive, but word of mouth is cheap.

Now, to illustrate the trick Facebook plays on its users, I’ll put the pieces together under a story line:

One day, you wake up to check out what’s new on Facebook. You’re stunned that things are not where you recall them, and then you read the announcement of the new design. You want the old one back, the one you’re used to… but tough luck, it’s gone!

The value of Facebook’s services mean more to you than the fact that your opinion did not matter in a decision that directly affected you. You want to rebel, but the list of pros and cons are heavily tipped towards the pros of Facebook. So, you decide to bottle up your feelings, and just get used to the new design.

After a couple of days of being lost around the new site, you decide to rebel and complain to your blog followers as a way to vent your frustration. That’s it! You’ve fallen for Zuckerberg’s trick! You’ve just advertised his brand to your followers and the social Web.

I know what you must be thinking; this is some bad press! Keep in mind, that a new comer will not share your and my frustration from the redesign. He was never used to the old design, so he’ll just get used to the new one. This means that the tens of thousands of articles and comments posted in frustration about the new design will not leave a big negative impact on a non-Facebook user. It will just lead to curiosity to see why this design is such a ‘bad thing’, and leave an impact that: “Wow, 3 million signed this petition; it must be one hell of a social network. Let me join and see what’s the fuss about!”

To fight back DO NOT get tricked like we did, DO NOT post any more articles about the Facebook, just ignore it! I just hate feeling used, don’t you?

This article is dedicated to the sole purpose of demonstrating pure empathy for Zuckerberg and genuine care for the Facebook community in efforts to try to correct the numerous mistakes that are being made in the name of social networking!

Ranging from Facebook’s thrive to make more money using the Facebook beacon and moving on to the “automated stalking” news feeds and ending with the biggest joke of all: Facebook’s forced redesigns, Marc Zuckerberg seems to be proving, day after day, the fact that he suffers from what psychologists call “The God Complex”.

As defined by the Urban Dictionary: “The God complex (funny video) is a psychosis based in uncontrolled narcissism, inflated arrogance and a perceived need to subjugate and/or ridicule other individuals deemed to be inferior or unworthy. Some believe that “God complexes” are particularly common in arrogant, highly educated, worldly, or powerful people.”

In one of my previous graduate marketing courses discussing “Marketing Mistakes and Successes”, it was evident that the 3 C’s: Conceit, Complacency and Conservatism were and are still the main three reasons why great corporations might be drawn towards failure. Looking at Zuckerberg’s approach to changing and continuously making additions and new platforms introductions, we can safely say that he is as far away as possible from complacency and conservatism. But what about conceit? Is conceit taking over the way things work at Facebook?

Since conceit is directly related to The God Complex I have defined earlier, it seems that Zuckerberg is drowning in shallow waters!

Disregarding the fact that 94% of Facebook users “hate” the new Facebook redesign and the fact many articles were written and Facebook groups were created to attack what I’d like to call the “God-like position” Zuckerberg upholds by doing as he pleases and even more severely disregarding user’s needs and arguments repetitively, and finally exploiting users’ data for personal gains and adding options that only compromise privacy, all seem to point towards one direction: Zuckerburg’s pure and unarguable obsession with power!

Zuckerberg: We feel with you, we really do, but honestly we are not ready to surrender to your will, not yet at least! I believe that most bloggers know exactly what they are talking about when they say: “The Facebook’s new design sucks” and “It is time you listen to your users!”. I’d like to think that I have read enough articles and case studies that can show you the way to “social networking redemption”! With a little effort, you can easily do what large social networking sites such as Google, Yahoo and others have done by utilzing Beta development to gain better insights about whatever changes you are planning to introduce in order to give your “smart” users more options and breathing room!

I just want what is best for us, the people who count: the users who have made your success possible! And since your profile indicates that you’re a Harvard graduated and we all know that you are currently Facebook’s CEO, which in turn gives you power, I believe that you fit the profile of a person suffering the God Complex! Thus, since part of finding a solution is realizing the problem, I just thought I should pinpoint you to the right direction…

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